This might come as a hard hit - the three options for anyone who really wants to do what they love, assuming you can’t find it anywhere around where you are:

1. go abroad (increased chances)
2. start your own company
3. do it alone anyway, but care less about getting paid

Sometimes you’re never going to find the perfect job, the perfect company, that one customer, who will pay you what you want to do best. You don’t have to conform to the expectations of a 9-5 job. It’s not illegal, it’s not evil, and nobody will kill you if you decide to do something else really bad.

You just need to give yourself time to plan things out properly. As for timing, there never is a “best” time to get anything done. You just sort of have to get started by yourself.

I have a friend who’s working as a software researcher whose dream is to start a childcare company. I told her she shouldn’t wait until she gets older. There are opportunities to do it now, and there’s no reason why it is of any loss should she quit.

In fact, I see it the other way around - she could potentially be robbing herself of an opportunity of a lifetime, if she decides to delay longer.

Thanks to Google and our ability to operate a QWERTY keyboard, it’s a lot easier for folks like us to do stuff. That includes getting the information we need, talking to experts in the field, sourcing for businesses, sourcing for customers, getting new ideas…

I would encourage anyone who’s stuck in the rat race, and have a desire to do something different - to start looking at alternatives now. Don’t wait. Find your street smarts and use all the advantages you can afford to leverage on.